Tours of Babel: Benjamin and Derrida

Abstract

Departing from a close reading of a classical text written by Walter Benjamin, “Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers [The task of the translator]”, Jacques Derrida – in his equally fundamental text, Des Tours de Babel [Towers of Babel] – advances a series of revolutionary ideas for a more conscious practice of translating. The dialogue between these two Jewish thinkers developed many important questions about translating and its dilemmas. My objective here is to offer a close reading of these texts – taking into account other readings – in order to untie some of their knots, patch up their contexture and explicit their more radical deployments.